While its literal sense concerns the cessation of physical life, the verb behind Strong’s 3499 broadens in Scripture to describe any state rendered powerless, barren, or unresponsive. It therefore covers both an active command (“put to death”) and a descriptive state (“as good as dead”). In each case the accent lies on the decisive removal of vitality so that God’s purposes might be displayed.

Occurrences in the New Testament

1. Colossians 3:5 – the only imperative use, calling believers to “Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature…”.
2. Romans 4:19 – Abraham “considered his own body as good as dead.”
3. Hebrews 11:12 – One man “and he as good as dead” fathered innumerable descendants.

These three settings provide a compact theology of mortification, faith, and divine life-giving power.

Mortification and Progressive Sanctification (Colossians 3:5)

Paul addresses those already “raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1) and therefore capable, by the Spirit, of terminating sin’s lingering impulses. The command is comprehensive—sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, greed. Each vice springs from the “earthly” self that died positionally with Christ (Romans 6:6) but must now be rendered inoperative in daily practice.

The tense underscores ongoing, resolute action. Mortification is neither self-hatred nor ascetic self-destruction; it is the Spirit-enabled refusal to grant sin oxygen. John Owen’s later warning captures the apostolic intent: “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Faith in God Who Gives Life to the Dead (Romans 4:19; Hebrews 11:12)

Paul and the writer of Hebrews each turn to Abraham. Physically incapable of fathering a child, he trusted the God “who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist” (Romans 4:17). His faith did not ignore biological facts; it acknowledged them, yet refused to let them limit divine promise. Thus “deadness” becomes the canvas upon which resurrection power is painted.

Hebrews expands the thought: from one man, “and he as good as dead,” God produced descendants without number. The focus shifts from personal victory over sin (Colossians) to the covenantal faithfulness that sustains redemptive history. The same God who began Israel with a barren couple later raised Jesus Christ from the tomb; in both cases death or deadness only highlights His sovereignty.

Old Testament Background and Continuity

The concept is anticipated whenever Israel faced situations of utter impossibility: Sarah’s womb (Genesis 18:11), the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), or the nationwide return from exile. Each scene prophesies the Messiah, in whom mortal flesh is put to death and resurrection life inaugurated.

Christological and Soteriological Implications

1. Crucifixion united believers with Christ so that “our old self was crucified with Him” (Romans 6:6). Mortification applies that union ethically.
2. Justification rests on the God who counts righteousness to those who trust Him despite their “dead” condition (Romans 4).
3. Glorification promises the final victory when all remaining traces of death are swallowed up by life (1 Corinthians 15:54).

Pastoral and Discipleship Application

• Preaching: The imperative in Colossians 3:5 furnishes a recurring evangelistic and sanctifying motif—Christ saves from sin’s penalty and from its present mastery.
• Counseling: Habitual sin is addressed not merely by behavior modification but by rooting identity in union with the risen Christ and wielding the Spirit’s power to mortify deeds of the body (Romans 8:13).
• Spiritual disciplines: Prayer, Scripture intake, accountability, and fasting serve as channels through which believers continually “reckon” themselves dead to sin and alive to God.

Historical Interpretation

Early monasticism sometimes recast mortification as severe bodily austerity. The Reformers redirected attention to the heart, emphasizing repentance and Spirit-wrought obedience. Puritan writers, notably John Owen, systematized the doctrine for pastoral use, stressing the daily, conscious putting to death of indwelling sin. Modern evangelical theology inherits this stream, encouraging believers to pursue holiness without divorcing it from grace.

Contemporary Relevance

The verb behind Strong’s 3499 challenges a culture that normalizes the very impulses Paul tells us to execute. It also comforts those facing apparent barrenness—personal weakness, aging bodies, dwindling prospects—by reminding them that God excels at bringing life out of death. Churches that hold these truths together model both holiness and hope.

Summary

Strong’s Greek 3499 portrays death as the hinge upon which God swings the doors of sanctification and promise. Believers actively mortify sin because Christ has died and risen; they trust God for impossible outcomes because He specializes in reviving what is powerless. Whether applied to personal purity, corporate ministry, or eschatological confidence, the term summons the church to live in the power of the resurrection now while awaiting its full unveiling.